Operation: Drabble Days
by NickiCriss
Summary: A collection of 100 Penguins of Madagascar - drabbles written in 100 days. Rated T to be on the safe side, may or may not change later.
1. I

Hi there ^^ I thought I should explain this story a bit. It's a challenge I've taken up, and the idea is basically write a drabble, a hundred-word story, every day for hundred days :) These are the first ten, and the rest will also be published in series of ten, so expect nine more chapters to come. The drabbles are in no way connected to each other and are not in chronological order. If you see a number between [ ] next to the drabble's title, it means you can scroll down for more information about the particular drabble :)

Enjoy!

_~.~.~.~.~.-Th. 16.8.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**1. SLEEP**

Private climbed up the ladder of the HQ outside.

"Skipper, what're you doing in 'ere?" he asked upon seeing the leader out too.

"I can't sleep," replied Skipper. "And you either, huh?"

Private nodded. "Are you watching the stars?"

Skipper's turn to nod.

"May I join you?" asked Private.

"Sure," Skipper replied, and the young penguin sat next to the leader on one of the penguins 'deck chairs'. A silence fell. A comfortable, trusting silence. For a long while the two penguins sat there without a word said.

"Aren't the stars magnificent?" asked Skipper, but got no reply. He turned, just to see a sleeping Private. The leader smiled.

"Let's get you to bed".

_~.~.~.~.~.-Fr. 17.8.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**2. BRUSH**

Rico was surprisingly patient and careful. But only in certain things. That carefulness and patience was witnessed by his team when it was time to brush his dollie's hair. Rico always took his time when running that yellow brush through the doll's blond hair. There was nothing in the world he concentrated more on. Yes, his team, his food, and explosives, were important to him. And he loved the team's missions. But none was like his dollie. And somewhere deep inside, Rico knew how lucky he was to have a team who understood that. Rico smiled gently, while once again brushing his dollie's hair.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Sa. 18.8.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**3. OF A SHATTERED DREAM **[1]

"Private, what is that?" asked Skipper as he saw young Private holding a curvy piece of shiny metal in his flippers.

"It's a trumpet, Skipper," Private replied.

"Okay... But where did you get that?" the penguin leader asked with suspicion.

"I saw it in a music shop while on a mission, and I went to get it last night," confessed Private.

"As an ornament it was the perfect size for me. I've always wanted to learn to play".

"I'm sorry, Private," said Kowalski, who had been listening to the other two penguins' conversation.

"But our beaks aren't capable of producing the 'buzzing' sound that's needed to play" he explained.

_~.~.~.~.~.- Su. 19.8.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**4. THE CREDO**

The alarm went off at six, as per usual, and all of the penguins got out of their beds, all except one.

"Private, why aren't you getting up?" Skipper asked, slightly worried.

"I am, Skipper, just.. hang on for a moment," the young penguin replied, sounding like he'd be in pain.

"Are you all right soldier?" Skipper asked.

"Quite.. so, Skipper," Private replied.

"Private," the leader said demandingly as he felt his soldier wasn't telling the truth.

"Okay. I'm not feeling well at all," Private confessed. "But go on without me".

"No," Skipper said firmly.

"You remember the penguin credo; never swim alone. We're having a day off".

_~.~.~.~.~.-Mo. 20.8.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**5. FEELING **[2]

He gently nuzzled the other penguin's cheek. It was his way of communicating, letting the other one know that he was to be trusted. Surprisingly emotional from a penguin who was sensitive for 'mushy' stuff. But Rico wasn't emotionless, not at all. He knew how to love, how to care. He knew how to smile and he knew how to cry. Some things made him angry, some made him scared. And Rico, if anyone, knew how difficult it sometimes was to talk about feelings, trust someone with one's emotions. So Rico knew exactly what he wanted to ask from the other penguin.

"What's wrong?"

_~.~.~.~.~.-Tu. 21.8.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**6. DEAL 'EM**

Kowalski tapped the clipboard with his pencil, deep in thought. He was still, but his mind was working full speed. And suddenly, he was back to doodling again. He was so focused on his new experiment, that he didn't notice that the others had been calling his name for a while already.

"Kowalski! Are you listening at all?" Skipper finally yelled.

The scientist was slightly startled, but turned calmly towards Skipper anyway.

"I'm sorry, sir," Kowalski said. "I got carried away".

"I noticed that... We were asking if you'd play cards with us," Skipper said.

Kowalski sighed, put down his clipboard and joined the others.

_~.~.~.~.~.-We. 22.8.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**7. LET'S GET LOUD**

"That noise's driving me insane! Kowalski, what's the time?" Skipper yelled over the blasting music.

"It's 2300 hours, sir," Kowalski yelled back. "And the lemurs show no signs of stopping their partying!" he cried out.

"That's it, two hours of this torture is enough!" Skipper stated. "Men, move out! Commence operation: sleep time!"

…And not long before another operation was successful and King Julien mad at the penguins again.

"Great job men!" Skipper stated. "Kowalski, commence lockdown and we shall get some sleep!"

Kowalski made a salute and with a few buttons pushed the lockdown was completed.

"Perfect! Sleep well, soldiers. We'll resume training first thing tomorrow".

_~.~.~.~.~.-Th. 23.8.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**8. SURPRISE, SURPRISE **[3]

Rico sat in the corner and blasted music from his newly regurgitated mp3-player so loudly that it didn't matter that he had headphones.

But surprisingly, Skipper wasn't irritated. Instead, he stared at Rico with his head tilted.

"Kowalski, come here for a second," he called for his soldier.

"Yes?" the scientist asked upon arriving.

"Do you hear Rico's music?"

"Yes?" Kowalski replied, signaling the leader to go on.

"Kowalski, describe that music to me. What do you hear?"

"A lot of violins. Sounds like a classical symphony orchestra," said Kowalski.

"Exactly, classical! And we're talking about Rico here!" Skipper replied. "That doesn't seem.. "Rico-odd" to you?"

_~.~.~.~.~.-Fr. 24.8.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**9. NOTES**

Kowalski ran around the HQ like a headless chicken, mumbling things to himself and seeming perhaps a bit lost.

"Kowalski, what's going on?" asked Private, who'd been watching Kowalski's doings.

"Oh, Private, you've got to help me!" the scientist cried out. "I can't find my notes anywhere!"

"..Your notes?"

"Yes! All of the information about my latest invention is in those notes! I need to find them!" Kowalski was nearing panic.

"Okay, calm down," Private replied and thought a while. "Have you asked Rico?"

"Rico? Really?" Kowalski raised an eyebrow.

"Why not? He's right behind you," replied Private.

Kowalski turned. "Hello Rico, have you seen my notes?"

_~.~.~.~.~.-Sa. 25.8.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**10. THE RAIN**

Private knew very well that if he wouldn't sleep soon, he'd be tired in the morning. But he had no intention of sleeping. Instead, he lay awake in his bed and listened to the rain pouring down outside. Oh how soothing it was, to just lie still and hear raindrops making their rhythm against the roof. Private smiled a little. As the rain then calmed down, Private noticed how peaceful everything really was. Only things the young one heard were the sounds of his sleeping team mates' breathing. Private loved that. It meant everything was okay, all was good in his world.

And then the rain started again.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

[1] I play a brass instrument myself, that's where the idea for the drabble came from :)

[2] This is a pairing between Rico and... I'm not telling you who ;) And like I've said before, this pairing happens in this drabble _only._

[3] That term "Rico-odd" refers to something that is odd for Rico... could we say something... _normal?_


	2. II

Hello again! First of all, I would like to thank all of my readers, and a huge thank you to those who posted a review! They are much appreciated ^^

So, here's the second set of ten drabbles, numbers 11-20. And we have a speciality here; number 13 is a doubledrabble! Read, review, and enjoy!

_~.~.~.~.~.-Su. 26.8.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**11. ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING**

After the previous night's extra hard training the penguins were exhausted as they organized themselves in a row in front of Skipper the next morning.

"Men, you did good job last night," the leader stated and took a sip from the coffee mug he had in his flippers.

"And we'll continue doing that well in today's training too!"

"Is it going to be like last night?" Kowalski asked slightly worriedly.

"But Skipper, we're exhausted!" continued Private.

"Yeah!" Rico nodded.

"Oh relax boys," Skipper laughed and took another sip of coffee. "The exercise I planned for today was more along the lines of 'smiling and waving'," the leader made a playful wink.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Mo. 27.8.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**12. THE SOUND OF THE BELLS **[4]

As Kowalski stood next to the other penguins in formation, smiling and waving, as per usual, he couldn't keep himself from taking a peak at the clock at the zoo's gate.

"_Five more minutes, Kowalski_," he told himself. "_You can stop looking at the clock; the time won't go faster even if you do_".

And yet, he couldn't get himself to stop. His impatience grew as the time didn't seem to move at all.

But after one eternity later, the zoo's bell rang for closing time.

"Yes!" Kowalski exclaimed, and suddenly felt angry glares on his back.

"I... I said that out loud, didn't I?" Kowalski asked embarrassedly.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Tu. 28.8.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

_~.~DOUBLEDRABBLE~.~_

**13. TRUTH OR DARE**

"..That is my biggest dream," Marlene concluded. "So now it's my turn to spin the bottle!" she exclaimed happily.

After spinning fast the bottle started to slow down and eventually stopped, pointing at Skipper.

"Alright, dare," said Skipper, for he knew what would've been asked next.

"Oh c'mon Skipper, dares with you guys are so boring," Marlene stated. "How about a little 'truth' instead?"

"_Truth, truth, truth_," the other players started chanting.

"Even my own men against me?" asked Skipper as he turned to look at them.

"Sorry Skipper," Private said.

"But Marlene is right," Kowalski continued. "Truth _would_ be more interesting".

"Even you think so, don't you, Rico?" Skipper turned to look at the psychopathic one.

"Uh-huh," Rico nodded after a bit of hesitation.

"_Uh, fine_," Skipper sighed. "I'll tell you a truth. What do you wanna know?"

Marlene and the penguins gathered a bit further away from Skipper to discuss how to use their 'truth'.

After a while Skipper started to impatiently tap the floor with his foot. "Come on, let's get this over with!"

A final whisper and Marlene stepped out of the circle the players had formed.

"Skipper, we'd like to know why you can't go to Denmark?" Marlene presented the result of the conversation with her and the penguins.

Skipper sighed deeply.

_~.~.~.~.~.-We. 29.8.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**14. THE FALL**

Chilly autumn wind blew over the zoo. The sky was grey so that the sun wasn't visible, but not dark enough for one to think that it could rain soon.

"The summer really is officially over now, isn't it?" Private spoke as the penguins stood in a row on their little island in their habitat.

The wind ruffled their feathers, causing all the penguins to get chills that shook them from head to toe. But none moved, and none spoke.

Suddenly, a brown leaf fell and was carried by the wind right to Kowalski's feet. He picked it up.

"I guess it is," the scientist stated and handed the leaf to Private.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Th. 30.8.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**15. SUDDEN AWAKENING**

Three a.m. Everything was silent as the whole zoo slept. The stars were shining beautifully in the New York City night.

Inside the penguin's HQ everything was silent, as usual. Few heavier breathings every now and then, rustling of feathers or the pillow when someone changed their position... but nothing out of the ordinary. Everything was peaceful.

Suddenly Skipper flinched wide awake and shot up. He panted and looked around. After recognizing the place as their HQ, he proceeded to have a quick look at the other beds, where the penguins were sleeping peacefully.

"_Oh, it was just a dream_," he sighed to himself, and dropped back lying down, feeling relieved.

_~.~.~.~.~.Fr. -31.8.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**16. NORMAL? **

"Kowalski," said Private one day, after the zoo's closing time, as he sat on the edge of their habitat's island.

"Do penguins cry?"

The question took Kowalski by surprise. "Why?" asked he.

"No reason," said Private, swinging his feet up and down.

"Do penguins laugh?"

Kowalski was still confused about the purpose of the youngster's questions. "Why do you want to know?"

"Kowalski, what _do_ penguins do?" asked Private.

"Well, _you_ are a penguin," stated Kowalski.

"_Normal penguins_, Kowalski. What do they do?"

Kowalski had to shrug.

"There is no reason for you to feel abnormal if you don't know what 'normal' even is," he said.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Sa. 1.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**17. MUSICIANSHIP **[5]

Rico had a habit of breaking out in song every now and then. Or actually, it happened quite often. Everyone was fine with it though, because Rico did have a surprisingly good singing voice.

But unfortunately, Rico was sometimes like any other musician; when he had the inspiration or the urge to sing, he could do it anywhere, any time. Quite often it happened right after the penguins had gone to bed, just before they'd fallen asleep. Those were the only times Rico was told to shut up. Lucky for them, Rico never disobeyed Skipper's orders. And Rico knew that he could always sing the next day.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Su. 2.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**18. OUTSIDE?**

It was a normal Sunday morning in the penguin HQ. They were all minding their own business, until...

"Come on boys, we're going outside!" Skipper said after he took the last sip from his coffee mug.

"Outside?" asked Kowalski as they also gathered around the table.

"We're always outside, why is it a big deal now?"

"No, not outside! Outside outside!" Skipper tried to explain, but made the others just more confused.

"..._Outside outside_?" asked Private.

"Yes, to the park!" Skipper replied.

"But we are in the park," stated Kowalski.

Skipper ran his flipper across his face.

"To the park outside the zoo walls, maybe?" Skipper said, feeling slightly frustrated.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Mo. 3.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**19. A CITY SO NICE...**

New York City, and four penguins. What did the two have in common? Both were said to never sleep. And that was true, at least tonight.

The periscope rose from the penguin HQ around midnight.

"All good sir," Kowalski reported. "Silent".

"A little too silent?" Skipper asked, sounding almost hopeful.

"No, just.. silent. Not more so than usual," Kowalski replied.

Skipper sighed. "Keep looking," he said as he walked to the table and sat down for coffee.

Kowalski made a salute and continued on his duty.

"Something wrong, Skipper?" asked Private, who'd been sitting at the table with Rico.

"Well, I was hoping we'd have a mission tonight!"

_~.~.~.~.~.-Tu. 4.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**20. MOONLIGHT**

Full moon had risen, all were asleep. But Rico just opened his eyes. The doll next to him had never closed hers, but was as smiley as ever. Rico gave her a kiss and got out of his bed, and picked her up.

Rico climbed out of the HQ with the doll, being as silent as he could. Then he carried her to the fountain. Rico climbed to the edge of it and sat down with her.

"Look at the stars," Rico said to his doll as he lifted her on his lap.

"But they're not as beautiful as you," he said while kissing her in the moonlight.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

[4] I feel I need to explain this a bit… You know that feeling when you really want to do something, but you're stuck at work or school, with only the last minutes left and you are just staring at the clock, waiting for it to free you so you can go home to do what you wanted? Well, I guess Kowalski had an invention waiting for him ;)

[5] I know quite a few musicians, and believe me, it is true that _"when he had the inspiration or the urge to sing, he could do it anywhere, any time." _;p


	3. III

Hi there ^^ thank you so much everyone for your reviews! and thank you for reading! Here's the third set of three, parts 21-30 :)

read, review, and most importantly, enjoy!

_~.~.~.~.~.-We 5.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**21. CHILD'S PLAY**

Kids. Little treasures, right? Well, it didn't always feel like so to the penguins with the constant yelling, which happened too often with the youngest babies, and them trying to catch the penguins attention by throwing something at them. On good days that something was popcorn. On bad days, small rocks and gravel.

"Why can't our habitat have a roof?" sighed Skipper on one of those 'bad days'.

"Well it would make our operations more complicated," replied Kowalski as he managed to dodge a rock.

"Probably true…" pondered Skipper. "And on the other hand, this is good training," he said.

"Too bad _we_ can never win".

_~.~.~.~.~.-Tu 6.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**22. WHAT IS "OVER-PARANOIA"?**

"You know, there's always that someone, who you consider a friend but you don't know, isn't there?" Skipper unexpectedly asked one day from his team.

"What do you mean Skipper?" asked Private.

"Just that," Skipper replied. "So many act friendly to us, but when we think about it, we don't really know them at all!"

"_Psst, Kowalski_," Private whispered to the scientist who was standing next to him, while nodding to Skipper. "_Does he seem slightly more paranoid than usual_?"

Kowalski replied, trying to move his beak as little as possible while speaking: "_I don't think he got enough sleep last night_".

_~.~.~.~.~.-Fr. 7.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**23. LONG LOST LOVE? **[6]

Skipper held a photo in his flippers and stared at it melancholically as he sat at the table in the penguin HQ.

"What's that, Skipper?" the penguin leader suddenly heard Private's voice behind him asking.

"Nothing," Skipper claimed and tried to hide the picture behind his back as he turned to Private.

But the young one was persistent. "Was that who I think it was in the picture? Was it..."

"Yes, it was Lola! Are you happy?" Skipper interrupted.

"Oh I remember Lola... she was pretty," replied Private. "What exactly happened to her?"

Skipper sighed deeply. "I don't really want to talk about it," he said sadly.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Sa 8.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**24. INSOMNIA **[7]

Rico tossed and turned in his bed. He threw the blanket off him and pulled it back again, he even turned so that his head was now at the end where his feet had been before. Rico sighed; no matter what he did, he couldn't sleep.

Rico sat up and grunted. He moved his pillow to the end of the bed where it had been, and suddenly heard humming. A soft, sweet melody of a lullaby flowed to Rico's ears, making him feel relaxed. He lay against the pillow as the lullaby made his eyelids heavy.

Slowly Rico drifted to sleep. Private smiled in his bunk, feeling victorious.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Su 9.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**25. QUANTITY AND QUALITY **[8]

Snowcone day was an irregularly regular happening for the penguins, and now had again come the time for that. The whole penguin team sat in the Central Park, near the pond, and watched the mother duck and the ducklings while eating their snowcones.

"You know, I'm kinda glad Eggy gave up wanting to be on the team," Private pondered out loud.

"Yeah, it was for the best," Skipper agreed. "He's too young anyway".

"He would have made a good team member though," Kowalski stated.

"True, he could've been better than all of you combined!" Skipper said.

"Still, I wouldn't trade you for anything, you're the best team I could have," he continued.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Mo 10.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**26. OF A SECRET PASSION **[9]

Though explosions in the penguin HQ were nothing new, this one was different.

"Kowalski!" Skipper yelled out as smoke covered the air.

"Kowalski is not here, Skipper," Private replied.

"He isn't?" Skipper asked. "Then... Where is he? And who caused the explosion?" the leader was confused.

Suddenly they heard steps hurriedly coming closer.

"I heard the explosion, is everything okay?" Kowalski then asked, slightly panting, having arrived at the HQ door.

"All good," Skipper replied slowly. "We were just wondering where you were during the explosion?"

"I…" Kowalski started as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I was just... rehearsing singing... alone, you know?" he explained awkwardly.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Tu 11.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**27. THE MORNING**

Skipper sat at the table and slowly stirred his coffee with the fish in it. Though his mind was usually working full speed all his waking hours, this morning it was surprisingly empty. Maybe it was because it was so early that no-one else had woken up yet. No-one in the whole zoo.

Skipper felt calm and content. He took a sip from his coffee, and went back to stirring it. The steam rising from the mug warmed his beak nicely.

"_What a great morning_," Skipper thought to himself. He casted a look at his sleeping team mates and smiled, almost a fatherly smile. "_And they're missing it all_".

_~.~.~.~.~.-We. 12.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**28. IT'S HARD ON YOUR OWN**

Kowalski had piled a bunch of books in the corner of the HQ and sat beside them with one in his flippers. The scientist seemed so focused, that Private was hesitant about going over there. But his curiosity took the best of him.

"Kowalski," Private began cautiously as he approached the other penguin. "Can I bother you a bit?"

"Yes, go ahead," Kowalski replied though he sounded slightly startled.

"I was just wondering... What are you doing?"

"I thought it's time for me to learn to read," Kowalski replied.

"..And how's that going?" asked Private.

"Well, I didn't consider the fact that I can't self-study this," Kowalski sighed.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Th. 13.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**29. OF TODAY'S MEDIA**

"Private, are you watching that "_moon-horse_"-show of yours again?" Skipper moaned as he saw Private in front of the TV.

"It's Lunacorns, Skipper, and yes," answered Private happily, without even looking at whom he was talking to.

"I don't know how you can watch that," Skipper stated. "It doesn't even have any violence!"

"But Skipper," said Private. "Everything doesn't need 'violence'!"

"Yes it does, Private. Why do you think everything on TV has violence? It sells!"

"But Skipper..." Private tried to say, but got interrupted.

"No buts, Private! Let's watch something else for a change?" Skipper suggested as he stole the remote.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Fr. 14.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**30. SHARING**

Rico's sushi was one food all the penguins had on their list of favorite foods. But oddly enough, the one who seemed to like it most was Rico.

Rico reached for the last sushi roll and grabbed it right in front of Private's beak, who had reached for the same thing.

But before Rico had time to eat the sushi, he was stopped by Skipper's sharp voice: "Rico! Have I taught you nothing? We are a team, we share everything; the HQ, the TV... and we do share the food too!"

"Awh," Rico sighed, but did as he was told, split the sushi roll and handed the other half to Private.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

[6] Most of you know who Lola is, but in case you don't, she was the bobble-head doll Skipper married in Madagascar 2

[7] I'm not sure if the idea in this one was clear; the lullaby Rico hears is hummed by Private, and the young one feels victorious because that lullaby did make Rico fall asleep :)

[8] Eggy is the duckling from episodes such as "Paternal Egg-stinct" and "Hard Boiled Eggy"

[9] Inspiration for this was the fact that Kowalski causes many explosions (or his inventions do), and the fact that he sings.. quite a lot, actually (for example in "Mental Hen" and "Concrete Jungle Survival") c:


	4. IV

Hello hello ^^ again, thank you all for reviews, and reading :3 I now present to you, the fourth set of ten, drabbles 31-40. And number 38 is a doubbledrabble!

Read, review, enjoy!

_~.~.~.~.~.-Sa 15.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**31. BROTHERS **[10]

Private had to admit that sometimes he had thought about leaving. Leaving the team and the HQ. Going back to his simple life, life without constant battling, bruising, hurting and being a punching bag; going back to pursuing his dream of living in Nova Scotia.  
But never could the young one get himself to leave. Because every time he had those thoughts, they were overcome by other thoughts, and memories. Memories of all the things the penguin team had done. Thoughts about how close they had become.  
The team wouldn't walk out on him, he wouldn't walk out on them; after all, they were his best friends.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Su. 16.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**32. IT'S EASY WHEN YOU CAN DO TWO THINGS AT THE SAME TIME... **[11]

"You know what I miss from Madagascar?" sighed Private one night as the penguins played cards.

"Do tell," Skipper said while placing a card on the table.

"The shore, the sea, the waves... things you don't have in New York," Private replied as he used his turn.

Kowalski grinned. "You should focus on the game, you're making my victory too easy," he said on his turn, confident that his next card would be the winning one.

But as Private's turn came up again after Rico and Skipper's, he smirked to Kowalski.  
"I think it's you who should've focused," he said while placing his last card and winning the game.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Mo. 17.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**33. PRETTY PICTURES **[12]

"_I'm smiling, Private, and you know how I hate that_," the words echoed in Rico's head.  
Then why, Skipper, why? Rico couldn't understand. Why would one have to smile for a picture if one didn't feel like smiling? Wasn't the purpose of photograph to capture the object in it in its natural state, and not pleasing others with something fake?  
Rico had a long time ago stopped trying to be anything that he really wasn't, and that had made him happy. It had given him a smile he could show off in pictures. Maybe it wasn't the prettiest smile, but at least it was genuine.

~.~.~.~.~.-Tu. 18.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~.

**34. EXCUSE**

It was raining in New York. Raining like there would be no tomorrow. And despite the fact that the zoo was open, there were no visitors because of the rain. So, a day off for the penguins?  
So they had thought.

"Skipper," Private panted. "Is this really necessary?"

"Of course it is, Private," Skipper replied.  
"Come on men, only five to go!" he tried to cheer up his team.

"Minutes?" Kowalski panted.

"No, rounds," Skipper replied. "The faster you run the sooner it's over!"

Rico said something that only the others birds could understand.

"Not an excuse, soldier," Skipper chuckled in reply. "You're an aquatic bird, remember? Now keep running!"

_~.~.~.~.~.-We 19.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**35. GOOD BOY**

Some people would do anything for money. Rico would do anything for fish.  
Alright, not '_anything_', but tricks. Like a dog when offered a treat.

As the kids visiting the zoo found that out, they made Rico do a lot of tricks, mostly jumps and spins.  
The other penguins could only watch with slight confusion as Rico jumped, spun around and even sat down like a dog to get fish the children were allowed to feed the penguins with.  
But even Rico drew the line somewhere. He would not come near on demand, be petted and he would most certainly not give them his "paw", in his case, his flipper.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Th. 20.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**36. NOT A BIRTHDAY?**

Private had been working hard since the morning. He was getting annoyed. Kowalski and Rico had disappeared somewhere really early, and now Skipper was making the young one do all the work. And more, felt Private. _Clean this, do that..._ Private was getting exhausted.

"Private, would you go get some popcorn?" Skipper asked.

"Can't Rico do that when he comes back?" Private sighed.

"I'm asking you, Private," Skipper said in return.

Private sighed deeply and went on his way.  
But right after he got out of the HQ he was stopped at the penguins' island.

"Surprise!" exclaimed all his friends, and indeed Private was surprised.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Fr. 21.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**37. OF THE MOVIE NIGHT**

"Movie night, movie night, movie night!" chanted Private, Kowalski and Rico excitedly.

Skipper just chuckled softly. "Now now boys, calm down. We will have the movie night".

"Yay!" Private exclaimed. "I'll get the popcorn!"  
He rushed out of the door.

"I'll set up the TV," Kowalski raised a flipper.

"Movie!" sang Rico as he too got out of the door.

Skipper laughed again. "_I only wish they'd be this eager to do exercises_," he thought to himself.

As Rico and Private returned to the base everything got set up and the movie night could begin.  
And indeed the night went great, except for one mistake; letting Rico choose the movie.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Sa. 22.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

_~.~DOUBLEDRABBLE~.~_

**38. INVASION **[13]

Kowalski yawned and stretched. It seemed like a typical morning. A little quiet, but typical.  
Kowalski climbed out of the HQ, and learnt that this was anything but a typical morning.

He was staring at hundreds of penguins. And they were all staring right back at him in silence, until...

"Kowalski!" a scream cut through the air and suddenly all hell was broken loose.  
Screams of joy and huge babbling filled the penguin habitat's atmosphere and all hundreds of penguins were trying to get to Kowalski. If he hadn't been in the penguin military, the scientist would've trampled to death. But now he did a swift swerve instead.

"Who are you?" he cried out.

"We're OCs!" one of the hundreds exclaimed.

"OCs?" Kowalski repeated.

"Original characters, from fanfics!"  
"And we're all here!" the whole crowd exclaimed.  
"We love you, Kowalski!"

And before he knew it, all of these OCs were running after him as he desperately tried to escape being glomped to death.  
But there was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Kowalski was cornered, with no escape as hundreds of OCs surrounded him from every side.

"No, please," Kowalski pleaded. But the OCs didn't listen.

"No!"

After a loud thud Kowalski suddenly found himself on the floor of the HQ.  
"_That was just.. A dream_?"

_~.~.~.~.~.-Su 23.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**39. NEVER SWIM ALONE, REMEMBER?**

While Skipper was on a solo mission, Private and Kowalski always found it difficult to keep Rico's mind off of the situation.

"What do we do now?" Private asked as he and Kowalski watched Rico being curled up to a ball and rocking himself.

"I don't know. I'm officially out of options".

"Umh... What about crayons?" Private suggested. "So he could draw?"

"Not a bad idea," Kowalski smiled. "I'll go get paper".

And so, as Skipper eventually returned to the HQ, he was greeted by hundreds of Rico's drawings that covered every inch of the HQ.

"Note to self; _No solo missions for a while_," Skipper sighed.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Mo. 24.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**40. WAITING'S NOT FUN**

Private was nearly always happy. But even so, he wasn't usually this excited, not unless there was something special coming up.  
But despite their hard thinking Skipper, Kowalski and Rico could not figure out the reason for Private's excitement, and frankly, their paranoid natures were making them slightly worried.

"Private," Skipper began. "Are you alright soldier?"

"I am, thank you," Private said hesitantly. "Why?"

"We're just a little worried," Kowalski shrugged, trying to be casual. "You seem so...over-excited".

"Oh," Private laughed. "Don't you know what day it is?" he asked with a spark in his eye and sang: "Only three months 'til Christmas~!"

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

[10] Private's dream of Nova Scotia was mentioned in the episode "It's About Time"

[11] Yeah, the idea of this one may be a bit unclear, so I'll explain it a bit :) Kowalski implies that Private should focus on the card game instead of babbling, but he doesn't know that it was Private's tactic the whole time; distract others with his talking. (I hope that helps with the story :3)

[12] Skipper's line is from the episode "The Big Move"

[13] This one is not meant to disrespect anyone's OC(s) in any way. I just thought about what could happen if every single OC created were in the zoo, all at the same time, you know? :) And Kowalski was picked as the main character just for fun :)


	5. V

I've said this before, but I'll keep saying it; many thank yous for reading and reviewing! :) And thank you _Doctor-Hamato_ for the internet cookie c:  
But now to the next set of drabbles! Numbers 41-50.

Enjoy!

_~.~.~.~.~.-Tu. 25.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**41. NERVOUSNESS**

"Alright men, you know what day is tomorrow?" Skipper made a half-question and looked at the other penguins, waiting for an answer. But as the trio looked at each other in confusion, Skipper ran his flipper down his face.

"Your physical fitness -tests, boys!" he sighed.

Immediately at the word 'test' Kowalski, Rico and Private subconsciously straightened their postures.

"That was tomorrow?" Private gulped.

"Yes, tomorrow. So you better get some good shut-eye tonight!" Skipper stated.

"Good night men," the leader said as the penguins then climbed to their bunks.

"G'night Skipper," the rest replied in unison.

But the only one who slept soundly that night was Skipper.

_~.~.~.~.~.-We. 26.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**42. NOT MY CUP OF TEA**

The penguins sat outside in the late evening. Skipper and Rico were setting up a campfire, not because it was needed, but just because.

Private stood at the edge of the penguins' island and watched as the last flock of birds was moving away for winter. He sighed a bit longingly.

"Dreaming of flying, perhaps?" Kowalski smiled a bit as he waddled over to the young one.

Private looked at him. "Goodness no," he laughed and turned again to look at the sky.

"I've had my share of flying, with all of those big slingshots and parachutes and other things. Flying is just not for me, I guess," he winked.

_~.~.~.~.~.-__Th. 26.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**43. CITY LIGHTS**

"Take it in, boys; the New York City night!" Skipper sighed as the penguins stood in Times Square.

"How does it really differ from the day in the city that never sleeps?" Private asked as he watched people and cars go by in the lights of billboards and streetlights.

"Well young Private..." Skipper said, but silenced mid-sentence. "Umh.. Kowalski?"

"Apart from the obvious differences, it being night time and dark sky for example, ..nothing," Kowalski shrugged.

"So Skipper, was this really so special it was worth waking up at three a.m.?" Private asked.  
"If it doesn't even really differ from daytime?"

Skipper stayed silent.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Fr. 27.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**44. IMAGINE MY LIFE WITHOUT YOU**

Everything had fallen silent, but the cold wind in the corners of the HQ, and that wind echoed in the emptiness. Nothing was left but him, and the HQ had never seemed bigger and more... desolated.  
The HQ was meant for the team of four, and not just constructionally.  
Three empty bunks at night were too much. He could not bear it. Couldn't bear the loss of the team, couldn't...

"_Skipper..._ Skipper! Are you alright?"  
A familiar voice made him discover it had all been in his head. Nothing but a horrible hallucination.

Skipper shook his head and looked at his soldier, and also glanced at the other two.

"I'm fine, now".

_~.~.~.~.~.-Sa 28.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**45. COMMON SOLUTION**

"What's with all the sighing, Kowalski?" Private asked as he sat down at the table, opposite to the scientist.

Kowalski sighed again, very deeply this time.  
"There's just so much to do," he replied sadly. "And so little time to do it in".

"Well… how ready are you with everything?" Private asked slowly.

"Exactly? I'd say about..." Kowalski kept a small thinking pause and continued: "0%".

"So you have no time, nothing done, and you've decided to do nothing about it?" Private asked with a hint of frustration.

Before Kowalski had time to answer he felt Rico's flipper on his shoulder.

"Good man," the psychotic one laughed.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Su. 30.9.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**46. GOOD MORNING?**

Skipper got out of bed at dawn, even though the penguins had a day off. He waddled over to the other side of the HQ to switch on the coffee maker, while the other penguins also got out of bed.  
But instead of lightening up as a sign of working, the power switch of the coffee machine returned to the off-setting. Skipper glared at it and tried again.  
But as the fifth try failed Skipper lost his temper.

"Work, dammit!"

He grabbed the machine between his flippers and shook it.

"I need my morning coffee!"

"Skipper, calm down!" Kowalski said as he hurried to his commanding officer.  
"The cord just isn't plugged in".

_~.~.~.~.~.-Mo. 1.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**47. CRUISIN' **[14]

He started the car as quietly as he could. After the last time he had borrowed the car without permission, the security measures had been tightened. Some might've thought he was stupid, but there was no security Rico couldn't pass.  
He drove the car out of the 'garage' and out of the zoo.  
As he drove through that gate Rico knew that he could get in trouble. Big trouble.  
But even the most loyal had to disobey orders sometimes.

And so Rico drove, full speed through Central Park, and it made the maniac feel alive; the speed, the disobeying of orders produced an adrenaline rush.  
Rico drove into the night of New York City.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Tu. 2.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**48. NOT FOR EVERYONE**

The penguin trio had formed a line on the edge of the penguins' island and Skipper stood in front of them.

"Men, do a 180° clockwise turn, on my mark," the leader ordered, and kept a small pause.

"Mark!"

The penguins turned around, and Skipper waddled to their side.

"'Right boys, 're you ready for some diving exercises?" the leader said.

"_Can I come too?_"

The startled penguins turned around and saw Marlene standing in their habitat.

"Oh Marlene," Skipper chuckled after getting over the surprise the otter had caused.  
"These are tough military exercises, and I don't think you can handle such".

"I'll show you, if you let me try," Marlene pleaded.

_~.~.~.~.~.-We. 3.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**49. LOOK, DON'T TOUCH**

For the penguins going too close to their habitat's fence in the zoo's opening hours meant that the children would try to touch them; pet them, poke them, even trying to pick them up, not knowing that it was next to impossible trough the fence.  
But standing too far didn't make the kids give them any fish, or popcorn.  
So the penguins had had to make a plan on how to find the 'golden center line'. This of course in practice meant Private being bait for the kids while the others would collect as much fish and popcorn as possible.  
It was a great plan for everyone, except for poor Private.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Th. 4.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**50. MEET ME HALF WAY **[15]

"Hello neighbors!" King Julien exclaimed as he once again entered the penguin's HQ without permission.

"I've come to tell you that it is being time to party!"

"And why would that be Ringtail?" Skipper asked with extreme irritation, and his flippers crossed on his chest.

"Because it's half way through!"

"..What is half way through?" Skipper now asked in disbelief.

"Well this... thingy, you know?" King Julien replied.

"What 'thingy'? You aren't making any sense here!" Skipper cried out.  
"Kowalski, is he making sense to you?"

Kowalski shook his head.

"Doesn't matter!" Julien said. "I'm the king, I say it's party time!

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

[14] Watch the episode "Driven to the Brink"

[15] Pushing the fourth wall here…. ;)


	6. VI

Hello again ^^ Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, and for sticking around this long! Here we have the drabbles from 51-60, and number 56 is a 1.5-drabble; 150 words long c:

Read, review, enjoy!

_~.~.~.~.~.-Fr. 5.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**51. OF MATH OF INVENTING**

His team, and other zoo animals, often wondered why Kowalski still used his abacus instead of a high-tech calculator, even though he also had one.  
Little did they know that it was Kowalski's way of respecting the great minds before him. The old times, before any calculator was ever invented.  
Besides, anyone could calculate with a calculator. When Kowalski used just the abacus, he'd have to, and got to, do something himself. What was a better way to keep one's mind sharp and organized than solving difficult calculations?  
Without math, none of his inventions would've been invented.  
Although using the abacus could explain their tendency to blow up.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Sa. 6.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**52. GATHERING**

"Kowalski, status report!"

"It's only growing, Skipper," replied the scientist as he held the binoculars in front of his eyes.  
"Soon the whole Central Park is filled with hippies".

"Damn hippies! Why would they do such thing?" Skipper cried out.

"I suspect a hippie-invasion," Kowalski pondered.

"Or," Private took part in the conversation.  
"It could be the peace-protest they've been talking about in the news?" he suggested.

"Oh naïve young Private," Skipper shook his head.  
"That's what they want you to think!"

Then Skipper turned to the rest of the team.  
"Men, looks like we have to take action".

"Roll out boys, operation slap-a-hippie is a go!"

_~.~.~.~.~.-Su. 7.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**53. I HOPE HE ISN'T A MIND-READER**

Kowalski was always the one thinking for a long time, and pondering a lot. Usually he pondered about science, especially things that could be solved with mathematics, but lately he had been interested in social anthropology. Or something like that.  
_Why was Skipper the leader?_ He had wondered out of curiosity.  
_Nothing stopped the others from being leaders, so why weren't they?  
Why had the penguins chosen to obey Skipper?  
They didn't always even agree with him, so why did they hold him in such high regard?  
What even had gotten them to follow Skipper at all?_

Suddenly the door slammed open.

"Oh, hey Skipper," Kowalski said nervously.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Mo. 8.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**54. SPECIALS**

Skipper had never met an ordinary penguin. Closest to that was probably Private, but.. not even he was.  
So, Skipper didn't know how ordinary penguins behaved, lived, didn't know about penguin social skills... Nobody had ever taught him things about penguins. All he knew was that they lived in Antarctica.

But wasn't it a bit silly to expect such? He _was_ a penguin; shouldn't he just know what penguins did?

But Skipper didn't really even consider himself an ordinary penguin.  
He was a military leader, in charge of a three-penguin unit. Why would he need to know about ordinary penguins, when his men were something special?

_~.~.~.~.~.-Tu. 9.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**55. RE-INVENTING THE WHEEL?**

"_54, 55, 56,.._." Kowalski counted in his head.  
"_And... Stop_!"

He jumped out of the water as fast as he could and pressed a button on his new invention that was standing on the edge of the penguins' island.

Kowalski shook his feathers and smiled.

"Shakin' like a dog," Skipper chuckled.

"Oh hello, I was just testing my new invention," Kowalski said as he turned to the leader.

"Which is..?"

"This machine here," the scientist pointed his flippers towards the invention.  
"It analyzes my swimming and calculates my best, worst and average lap time".

"So what does it do that a stopwatch and a calculator can't?" Skipper wondered out loud.

_~.~.~.~.~.-We. 10.10.2012~.~.~.~.~._

_~.~1.5 DRABBLE~.~_

**56. COMMANDER'S DUTY, (OR FRIENDSHIP?)**

"There you are!" Skipper exclaimed. "C'mon, it's late, let's get back to the HQ".

"But..." Private muttered. "You said..."

"I know I did, Private," Skipper interrupted.  
"But what kind of a leader would I be if I'd meant such thing?"

Private didn't know a good way to answer that.

"So, c'mon, let's go home," Skipper said.  
"I bet Kowalski and Rico are dying to know you're safe".

Skipper jumped down from the tree branch they'd be on and Private followed.

"Skipper," Private started as they waddled towards the HQ.

"Shoot," the leader replied.

"Why did you come looking for me?"

"You know I'd look for you all from the end of the world if it came to that," Skipper smiled.  
"No penguin gets left behind," he winked.

Private looked at him.  
"Thank you, Skipper," the small one then said slowly, smiling.

"You're quite welcome, young Private," Skipper smiled back as he placed a flipper on Private's shoulder.

"You're quite welcome".

_~.~.~.~.~.-Th. 11.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**57. OF EXPLOSIONS IN THE HQ**

Skipper, Rico and Private were having breakfast when an explosion filled the HQ.  
But since it was nothing new, the penguins paid no real attention to it. Except for Rico, whose face was visited by a little grin.  
Kowalski waddled out of his lab, all of his feathers stained black from ash, and followed by a cloud of black smoke. He coughed once.  
As he seemed to be fine, besides the blow on his ego, Skipper felt he could make a teasing remark.

"What did you blow up this time?" he grinned.

"I rather not talk about it," sighed Kowalski.

"Well, have breakfast with us then," Private smiled.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Fr. 12.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**58. OF IMPATIENCE**

"You hear that boys?" Skipper suddenly said in the middle of the card game.

"Oh yes," Kowalski replied, raising his head a little.  
"The rain has finally stopped!" he smiled. "Finally; we've been here half the day!"

"Yay! We can go outside again!" exclaimed Private, threw his cards on the table and ran towards the fishbowl entrance.

Quickly he climbed up the ladder and moved the fishbowl.

Suddenly he was greeted by water, washing him down to the HQ's floor.

"Umh.. Kowalski, analysis?" Skipper said slowly, slightly confused about the situation.

"Seems our pool has flooded from the rain," the scientist replied as he looked at the soaking wet Private sitting dumbfounded on the HQ's floor.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Sa. 13.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**59. WISDOM COMES FROM MANY PLACES**

Private sighed deeply as he turned off the TV.

"What's wrong, soldier?" he heard Skipper behind him ask. Private turned to the leader.

"I just finished the last episode of Lunacorns," he said sadly.

But to the young penguin's surprise, Skipper didn't say anything with an unimpressed tone or sarcastically.

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened," the leader said.

Private looked at him for a long time.  
"Thanks, Skipper," he finally said. "But since when have you... umh, said things like that?"

"I don't know," Skipper shrugged.  
"I read that one from the back of a cereal box".

"Well, that figures," Private grinned to himself.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Su. 14.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**60. "I WANNA ROCK N' ROLL ALL NIGHT..."**

Another day of exercises was interrupted by something. Something loud.

"86 that noise! We have work to do!" Skipper yelled.

"It not coming from any of us, Skipper!" Kowalski replied over the noise.

"Then it must be..."

"..Ringtail!" Skipper yelled to the lemur, whose boom box was making huge noise with its volume turned to max.

"Oh, hello penguins! You have come to join the party?" King Julien asked after finally noticing his visitors.

"No," Skipper replied.  
"We've come to get you to turn off that noise. We can't work with that! Isn't partying all night enough?"

"Of course not, silly penguins!" Julien exclaimed.


	7. VII

Hello everyone ^^ Thank you for your comments! very appreciated :3 and thanks to every reader too!

Here we have numbers 61-70, and yet again, exception to the rules written in the author's note in chapter one; numbers 68, 69 and 70 are a three-part story, so the three drabbles _are_ connected.

I hope you enjoy them, and the other drabbles too!

_~.~.~.~.~.-Mo. 15.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**61. CULTURAL **[16]

"Skipper," Private began hesitantly.

"Yes, Private?" Skipper replied as he turned to the young penguin.

"I was just wondering..." Private continued.  
"You sometimes use these foreign words; _comprendé, pronto, excellente_... Do you speak many languages then?" he asked slowly.

Skipper chuckled. "Not too many," he replied.  
"But let me tell you something, young Private; you can't travel the world without knowing a word or two of also languages other than English".

"So you've travelled the world then?" Private asked excitedly.

"Indeed I have," Skipper chuckled again.  
"There are mission and operations to complete all around the world! I'll tell you a few stories if you want".

_~.~.~.~.~.-Tu. 16.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**62. OF TRAINING AND PERFECTION**

"Skipper! I'd hate to interrupt, but..." Marlene said from the edge of her habitat.  
"_What're you guys doing?_"

"We're having a marching rehearsal," Skipper replied as the penguins waddled past her.  
"_Stay on rhythm, men_!"

"But why have you gone past here seven times already?" Marlene kept wondering.  
"Isn't that enough?"

"Marlene!" Skipper replied. "We're not stopping until we get it right!"

"Skipper, may I point out," Kowalski took part in the conversation.  
"That not only is this type of marching is rather difficult with our body structure, it also looks quite.. _ridiculous_".

"Oh shut it, Kowalski," Skipper said.  
"We will learn this, _eventually_".

_~.~.~.~.~.-We. 17.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**63. HOME SWEET HOME**

It was the fourth day with Skipper one of his solo missions, and Kowalski, Rico and Private sat at the table in their habitat in rainy New York, drinking tea from white mugs.

"When do you suppose he's coming back?" Private asked between sips of tea, to break the silence in the HQ.

And meanwhile, in an unknown location, Skipper, unbeknownst to him, answered to that question to himself.

"_Looks like this mission is a wrap_," the leader thought.  
"_Boys, I'm coming home," _he smirked as he started waddling towards the direction of New York City.

"_It'll take a while, but I am coming home_".

_~.~.~.~.~.-Th. 18.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**64. ORDERS **[17]

"What a beautiful day," Skipper sighed as he looked to the sky.  
"The sun is shining, no clouds in sight..."

"So, men," he said as he turned to look at the other penguins.  
"Do you know what we do now?"

"Yes we do, Skipper," Private replied quickly.  
"I'll go make us the sardine-smoothies while you set up the deck chairs," he continued, made a salute and went down to the HQ.

Skipper scratched his head. "Not quite what I had in mind..." he muttered.  
"But that'll do," the leader grinned, to Kowalski and Rico's relief.

"Alright men, you heard the boy," Skipper chuckled.  
"Let's set up those deck chairs!"

_~.~.~.~.~.-Fr. 19.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**65. GAMES **[18]

"Today, we will play a game," Skipper announced.

"Please not hot potato, please not hot potato..." Private thought.

"Please be trivia..." Kowalski hoped.

"Today we will play the game of follow the leader," Skipper announced again.  
"We will head to the rooftops of New York City skyscrapers. Naturally I will be the leader, but you might get to try it out too," he said.

"This is a merciless game, men; if you fall... Well, I shouldn't scare you. We'll just hope all of you make it alive," the leader concluded and gave Private a measuring look.

"Well, enough blabbering; c'mon boys, it's game night now!" Skipper then said.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Sa. 20.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**66. MY KIND OF TRAINING**

The morning was a beautiful time in New York. It was a time in the zoo quiet enough for Kowalski to sneak away unnoticed.  
The penguin, like always, made sure nobody saw him, and ran out of the HQ.  
But on this day, unbeknownst to the scientist, Skipper had found out, and had decided follow him.

_-:-:-_

"Kowalski, what is that?" Skipper said as he jumped out of the bush, startling Kowalski.

"Whaa, Skipper! Have you been watching me?" the scientist shouted.

"Calm down! And yes, for a while; I need to know where my men go on their unauthorized leave!" Skipper scolded his lieutenant.

"Sorry, Skipper," Kowalski said. "I was doing Tai chi".

_~.~.~.~.~.-Su. 21.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**67. SUNRISE**

Rico yawned and rubbed his eyes. Sunday morning and a day off. Even though the alarm, that usually was on every day, had been turned off, Rico noticed he had woken up even earlier than usually.  
Five in the morning, and Rico decided to get up.  
He climbed out of the HQ, and noticed he wasn't the only one; Private was up too.

"Oh, morning Rico. Come watch the sunrise with me," Private said.

Rico waddled next to him, and for a while they gazed at the rising sun.  
Then Rico turned to Private and made a face.

Private laughed. "I knew you would, Rico, I knew you would".

_~.~.~.~.~.-Mo. 22.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**68. PICTURES (a.k.a. 1/3) **[19]

"Wow... Never seen these before," Private said as he looked at the photos on the table.

"Ooh..." Rico chuckled at the photos.

"And you can probably understand why," Kowalski replied to Private.  
"Would these get to the wrong hands..."

Kowalski's sentence was cut short as the door slammed and Skipper entered the HQ.

"What's going on, boys?" he said as he approached the table.

"Nothing," Kowalski said nervously as the three penguins formed a tight half-circle around the table to shield it from Skipper's eyes.

"Kowalski," the leader said and crossed his flippers on his chest.  
"What are you hiding from me?"

"Nothi..." was all Kowalski could say before Skipper pushed through the penguins' formation.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Tu. 23.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**69. SECRETS (a.k.a 2/3) **[19]

"Kowalski, would you like to explain?" Skipper said as he looked at the photos on the table and tapped his foot against the floor.

"I... I'm sorry..." Kowalski stuttered.

"No, Skipper. Don't blame Kowalski," Private interrupted the scientist.  
"These are here because of me, not him".

"Private! Why would you do that? You could see that the folder says 'classified'!" Skipper scolded the young bird.

"I'm sorry, Skipper," Private said and lowered his head.  
"I was cleaning when that folder fell from the shelf and opened. I was picking it up and then I saw the photos and then Kowalski walked in and saw me with them and... I'm sorry".

_~.~.~.~.~.-We. 24.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**70. MY PAST (a.k.a 3/3) **[19]

Skipper turned to the table and picked the photos.  
"_Damn monkeys_," he muttered under his breath.

"Rico, Private... I know these photos may come to you as a shock, and reveal a side of me previously unknown, but I don't want this to change your views on me," Skipper said, sounding official.

"It's okay, Skipper," Private smiled.  
"Lola was your bride".

Skipper, too, smiled a little.

"And don't worry though, your secret is safe with us," Private continued.

"Yeah," Rico agreed.

"Thanks boys," Skipper smiled.  
"I knew I could trust you," he said as he gathered the photos of him and his bobblehead bride back in to their binder.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

[16] Please forgive me for any spelling mistakes :3

[17] Check out "Gone in a flash"

[18] To find out more about Kowalski and Private's thoughts, check out the episode "The most dangerous game night"

[19] Check out "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa"


	8. VIII

Hello again ^^ Sorry I was a little late with the publishing of these... anyway, thank you for your comments! Keep 'em coming ;3 Now for the drabbles 71-80..

Read, review, enjoy!

_~.~.~.~.~.-Th. 25.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**71. OF HOMESICKNESS**

On some dark nights Maurice looked at the stars and wondered how everything was going back home in Madagascar.  
Yes, he had lived in New York with King Julien and Mort for quite a while, but Madagascar was still the place he called home. Sometimes Maurice wished he could go back there. He wasn't unhappy in New York, but... He just wanted see the island, just one more time. And sometimes wondering would he ever see his home again made Maurice melancholic. But looking at the distant stars reminded him that he could've always been further away.  
And then Maurice closed his eyes and slept.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Fr. 26.10.2012-__~.~.~.~.~._

**72. CHAOS&DESTRUCTION**

Rico looked around the HQ. Everything was tidy, and no item was misplaced or was there a surface that didn't just shine its clean-ness. A clean HQ was nice, yes... But Rico preferred the untidy one. A little bit of unorganization was good, a little bit of chaos was what Rico was drawn to.  
At the moment the HQ was just asking to be messed up, and the only reason Rico kept himself from doing that was because he didn't want to anger Skipper. _But oh had he had the HQ for himself..._ Rico chuckled at the thought. Then he realized he had to leave the HQ before he'd lose all control over himself.

~.~.~.~.~.-Sa. 27.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~.

**73. THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR**

"Hi Marlene," Private greeted the otter.

"Oh, hello Private," Marlene quietly returned the greeting.

"You seem sad," the penguin stated quickly. "What's wrong?"

Marlene jumped next to Private to the fence he was standing on.  
"You know, Private," the otter began.  
"I was walking around the zoo today, and... I really am the only otter in the whole zoo. Everyone else has someone to share the habitat with, except for me".

"Oh," Private sighed compassionately.  
"Marlene, I don't know if it's any good, but... you're always welcomed to the HQ, if you want," he then smiled.

"Thank you, Private," Marlene returned the smile.  
"It's good to know I'm not completely alone".

_~.~.~.~.~.-Su. 28.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**74. SUSHI**

"_Boys, looks like ice-cold sushi for breakfast_," had Skipper said in the morning. Now he wished he hadn't.  
The fish had been rotten, Skipper knew it now. They all knew it now. But none of the team had known it at the time they ate it.  
And now the whole team lay in their bunks, feeling sick from that rotten fish. But on the bright side, like Private had said, hours of this torture had taught the team a lesson; never steal anything from the zoo's storage room and eat it without examinating it thoroughly first.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Mo. 29.10.2012-__~.~.~.~.~._

**75. OF WINTER**

The penguins climbed out of the HQ for their daily training. With them they carried the '_ninjas_', or the bowling pins, like others called them.

"Alright," Skipper said outside. "You know the drill boys; set up the ninjas".

After working for a while, Kowalski turned to Skipper.  
"Sir, we may have a problem".

"What is it, Kowalski?" Skipper replied.

"It's slippery".

"So?"

"While it isn't a problem for us, we can't get the ninjas to stand up," Kowalski explained and pointed at Private and Rico desperately trying to keep all the bowling pins up. But every time one was lifted up, another one fell.

"Well," Skipper replied after a while. "Looks like we'll have to move indoors".

~.~.~.~.~.-Tu. 30.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~.

**76. FILE**

Private sat in the storage room of the HQ where the penguins kept their old mission files, archived in nice chronological order. The young penguin had found an interesting file, one that held a special meaning to him. It was a file labeled _'Madagascar'_, and, among other things, contained drawings doodled with a red crayon. Those were drawings Private had sketched.  
Back then he had been just a soldier in training, 'private' in its truest meaning. But Kowalski had given him the job of sketching the mission report. Oh how proud had Private felt, been given such an important duty. It was one of the first times he'd felt he belonged to the team.

~.~.~.~.~.-We. 31.10.2012-~.~.~.~.~.

**77. THE RED CRAYON**

Private smiled as he looked at the sketches he had made about their mission in Madagascar. They were rather silly doodles really, but Private felt attached to them. They were the first ever mission reports he had done.  
Private closed the file and was just about to put it in its place, when something fell from inside it and rolled to the floor.  
Private picked it up. It was the very same crayon he had drawn those mission reports with, and just the way he had left it; pointless.  
Private put the crayon back in to the file.

"_Glad I'm not the only sentimental fool here_," he chuckled gently.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Th. 1.11.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**78. THE AFTERMATH OF THE SPOOKY HOLIDAY**

The clock was barely three in the morning when Rico snuck out of the HQ. It was dark, quiet and Halloween decorations were everywhere. Perfect.  
Rico didn't know a better holiday than Halloween. That was when he felt the most comfortable around others; they, too, were freaks then, and the scarier the better. It was the rare time when he actually felt like he wasn't the only weird one, and it was nice. _But only once a year._  
So Rico wanted to savor the sights of Halloween. It looked home-y outside, in the scary darkness of the night, lightened only by lamp posts, eerie in the foggy sky.  
Rico let out a maniacal laugh, and it fit the picture.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Fr. 2.11.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**79. SUGAR HIGH**

"Kowalski, please tell me that this is gonna stop soon!" Skipper cried out as they watched Private run around the HQ like a headless chicken.

"Nope, doesn't seem so, Skipper," Kowalski replied slowly.

"_But it's been two days_!"

"But you know how he gets when he eats too much candy," Kowalski argued.  
"And he ate _at least_ three times more than _'too much'_".

Skipper let out a very long, deep sigh.  
"Rico, _can't you do something about this_?!"

Rico stood up from the floor.  
"Okay," he said, and skillfully knocked out Private with a single touch of flipper.

"No more candy for this kid," Skipper stated.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Sa. 3.11.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**80. NOTHING**

"Alright, Kowalski! Tell us our mission," Skipper said as he poured himself coffee.

"I… I thought _you'd_ tell _us_," Kowalski replied, slightly confused.

"Oh yeah, right…" Skipper rubbed the back of his head.  
"But I've got nothing," he said. "Umm… Private, check the periscope".

Private waddled to the periscope and took a long look around the zoo.  
But after a while Private just had to say: "Nothing, Skipper".

"…_Nothing_?" the leader asked in disbelief.

"Nothing," Private repeated.

"How can there be '_nothing_'?" Skipper asked, turning to Kowalski.

The scientist looked at him, and had to shrug.

"Well then," Skipper said as he sat down at the table.  
"What do we do now?"


	9. IX

Hello, nice to see you again ^^ Again I'd like start off with big thank yous to all readers and reviewers!  
Now we've arrived to the second to last part of this drabble-challenge; to the drabbles 81-90. Here we have a little "theme" in the drabbles 82-90; what happens when Skipper goes to a solo-mission.

Read, review, enjoy!

_~.~.~.~.~.-Su.4.11.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**81. BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD**

"Looks empty, Skipper," Private said as he turned the periscope from side to side.

"Are you absolutely sure, Private?" Skipper asked.

"100%, sir," Private confirmed.

"Let me just take a look, just in case," the leader said.

Private stepped aside, and after looking through the periscope himself Skipper had to admit it really was empty.

"Kowalski, it's not working!" the leader then yelled.

"What?" Kowalski said as he came out of his lab.  
"I was sure that masking device would work this time!" he muttered as he went out of the HQ.

"Back to the drawing board then," the scientist sighed as he came back with his invention.

_~.~.~.~.~.-__Mo. 5.11.2012-__~.~.~.~.~._

**82. LEAVING**

Skipper opened his eyes rapidly, and the time was 0200 hours. Clock-like timely precision with the waking; the leader's next solo-mission would start in thirty minutes in New York City harbor. Skipper climbed out of his bunk and onto the ladder to the HQ's fish bowl entrance.  
As he was climbing on the ladder past his team, he stopped. Skipper had been told what his absence tended to cause in the team and its members.

"_I'm sorry that I have to leave without a warning_," he whispered and looked at the sleeping trio.

"_But you know I'll come back,_" he continued and climbed out of the HQ.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Tu. 6.11.2012-__~.~.~.~.~._

**83. REASON TO WORRY?**

"_Kowalski... Kowalski_!" Private hissed besides Kowalski's bed.

"...What?!" the scientist asked as he woke up.

Private hushed him. "_Skipper's gone_".

"Gone?" Kowalski asked, louder than he had meant to.

"_Shh_," Private hissed. "Don't wake up Rico, _you know how he gets_," he continued.  
"Yes, Skipper's gone without a warning".

Kowalski sat up.  
"But that's how he usually goes," he pondered.

"True," Private had to agree.  
"I guess we should be more worried if he did leave a note or something," he laughed a bit.

"Indeed," Kowalski laughed too.  
"So we can probably just go back to bed".

"Yeah... Good night!" Private said while climbing back to bed.

_~.~.~.~.~.-We. 7.11.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**84. CAREFUL WITH YOUR WORDS**

"You know what?" Private said as the penguins stood on their island.

"Since Skipper doesn't tell us about these solo-missions... You know we always assume it's a mission, but what if... _What if one day it's not a mission?_ What if he'd be kidnapped, and we wouldn't even know to worry?"

Suddenly there was a panic-y gasp.

"Private, look at what you did!" Kowalski said pointing at Rico.  
The maniac bird was already on the edge every time Skipper was away, and the scenario Private had thought up had certainly not made him easy. Rico was running around a circle in the habitat.

"_Weren't you supposed to be the positive one_?" Kowalski asked from Private.

_~.~.~.~.~.__-Th. 8.11.2012-__~.~.~.~.~._

**85. WHILE SKIPPER IS AWAY**

Private and Rico sat in the HQ, at the table sighing. Sure having Kowalski in charge had its perks: it was easy and relaxed in the HQ, they didn't train too often and weren't always on a mission.  
_But that was also the bad side_. Kowalski used the time Skipper was away to focus on his inventions, and spent a lot of time in his lab. At first Rico and Private had tried to bother Kowalski, to get him to do something with them. But that didn't work. Then they tried to do something without Kowalski, but that didn't quite work either.

What should they do now?

_~.~.~.~.~.-__Fr. 9.11.2012-__~.~.~.~.~._

**86. IN CONTROL **[20]

"_Oh he thinks he can blast the music just because Skipper isn't here_," Kowalski muttered while looking at the lemur habitat through the periscope.

"But not on my watch!" he declared.  
"Let's roll out, men!"

Private and Rico stared at him.  
"Kowalski, _what was that_?" the young one asked.

"I just thought I'd try to be a bit more... _leader-y_, you know?" Kowalski replied slightly nervously.

"_Okay._.." Private said slowly.

"Okay, well, that's that. Let's go!" Kowalski ordered while putting on his 'Commander Kowalski' - helmet and sunglasses.

Private and Rico shrugged and followed the scientist out of the HQ and towards the lemurs' habitat.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Sa. 10.11.2012-__~.~.~.~.~._

**87. COME HOME**

Marlene made her way to the penguin HQ and found Kowalski, Rico and Private there, playing cards.

"_Wow_, Skipper _still_ isn't back?" the otter asked.

"Nope," Kowalski replied as he put a card on the table.

"But he will be," Private continued happily. "And probably very soon!"

"How so?" Marlene asked.

"Well I just thought that since it's been a week already, he must came back soon, right?" Private explained a little hesitantly.

"Probably. Well, guys, I've got to go, see you later!" Marlene said and left the HQ.

"Bye Marlene!" shouted Private. Then he turned to Kowalski.

"_Skipper must come home soon, mustn't he_?" he asked quietly.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Su. 11.11.12-__~.~.~.~.~._

**88. HIGH STEALTH OPERATION**

Kowalski had his notepad and a pencil in his other flipper as he looked through the binoculars.

"_Interesting_," he muttered and wrote down something in his notepad.

"What is?" Private asked as he came out of the HQ and on to the penguins' island.

"How Skipper can be gone so long without Alice noticing," Kowalski replied while writing down more notes.  
"It's been more than a week, and no search or anything has been commenced".

"That _is_ kinda weird," Private agreed. "It has been a rather long mission".

"Yes, you'd think somebody would've noticed by now," Kowalski said as he again took a look through the binoculars.

_~.~.~.~.~.__-Mo. 12.11.12-__~.~.~.~.~._

**89. STEPS IN THE NIGHT**

Only two hours before the wake up Rico was woken by a rustling sound made by the fishbowl moving at the entrance. Rico opened one eye, and saw a small figure coming in to the HQ.  
The figure went all the way to the floor of the HQ, and Rico decided to jump on him. But the intruder avoided the attack easily and pinned Rico to the ground.

"_Rico, what gives_?" he said, and Rico instantly recognized the voice.

"Skipper!" the maniac exclaimed before being silenced by the leader.

"_Shh_," Skipper hushed.

"_I was hoping to let you sleep 'til the morning to find that out, but yes, I'm back_," he said with a little smile at the excitement of the other bird.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Tu. 13.11.12-~.~.~.~.~._

**90.** **THE WELCOME HOME**

"What is this noise?!" Skipper yelled over the blasting music.

"Oh hello neighbor! This is a party! For m... I mean you," replied King Julien, who obviously was the reason for the music.

"For me? When have you ever thrown a party for _anyone_ but yourself?" Skipper asked skeptically.

"I'll have you know I heard you'd be coming back so I threw a party," Julien said, crossing his arms on his chest.

"_Sure you did_. That of course would've been more believable had you also invited _me_," Skipper stated.

"Now 86 that noise," he commanded. "I want to sleep and demand absolute silence. So, back to the HQ, boys!"

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

[20] If you don't know about _'Commander Kowalski'_, check out the episode "P.E.L.T."


	10. X

Hello, and welcome to the last set of drabbles! I want to thank all readers ad reviewers from the bottom of my heart; you are amazing! This has been a fun project, and it's a bit sad that it has to end... But don't worry, there'll most certainly be new stories! Stay tuned ;)

But now, here we go, the last ten drabbles, numbers 91-100.

Read, review, enjoy!

_~.~.~.~.~.-We. 14.11.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**91. TO MAKE YOU HAPPY **[21]

Mort had really been living up to his nick-name 'Sad eyes' for quite a while. Ever since the zookeepers had found and taken away the cellphone Maurice had given him he had been feeling unhappy. For many it was heartbreaking to watch usually so happy little lemur looking so sad.

"What do we do to make Mort happy again?" Private asked.

"Umm.. Kowalski, options!" Skipper said.

"Well.. we could build him a robot friend?" the scientist suggested.

"Or, we could give him something that _won't_ blow up," Skipper responded.

"Like a plush toy?" asked Private.

"Good thinking, soldier!"

So that's what they did, and Mort was happy again.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Th. 15.11.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**92. …OR UNTIL I SAY SO **[22]

Skipper had ordered Rico to watch while Kowalski invented in his lab. It was a form of mild punishment, but they didn't tell that to the scientist himself.

"I know you don't want to be here, Rico," Kowalski said after a while. "I can see it".

Rico tried to look like Kowalski was wrong, but didn't succeed.  
"Sorry," the maniac uttered slowly.

"It's okay. I take it that Skipper ordered you to be here?" Kowalski said, still focusing on his new invention.

"Aha," Rico replied.

"Thought so. I don't know why you're here, but since you are, I might as well tell you a secret". Kowalski turned to Rico.

"_I haven't received the 'further notice'_," he chuckled.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Fr. 16.11.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**93. PARTY-TIME**

"Maurice, I'm thinking we should have a party," King Julien said as he drank his mango smoothie.

"We have parties all the time," Maurice replied calmly.

"No, no. Like a big party! ..A huge party! We should invite all my loyal subjects!" Julien said excitedly.

"Is there some special occasion then?" Maurice asked as he went through his calendar. He was sure it wasn't Julianuary, King Julien day or any other made-up or real holiday.

"Why would we be needing that?" King Julien asked genuinely.

"We don't, your majesty, I just wondering," Maurice replied.  
"_The penguins are gonna love this_," he chuckled in his head.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Sa. 17.11.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**94. KABOOM!**

Rico was getting frustrated with the lack of '_kabooms_' the penguins' operations had experienced lately. Bunch of boring, mellow missions with not even a single explosion.  
Luckily for Rico, Skipper had noted that too.

"Rico, I've noticed the lack of explosion," the leader said as he walked blindfolded Rico forward.  
"And I had Kowalski and Private set up something for you," he continued. The two penguins stopped, and Rico was released from his blindfold so he could see where they were.

"It's an obstacle course," Kowalski explained the sight.

"And you need to explode your way out of it!" Private continued.

"Yaay! Kaboom!" Rico exclaimed as he ran to the course.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Su. 18.11.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**95. FISH!**

"Skipper, Kowalski! Come quick!" Private shouted as his head popped out of the fishbowl entrance.

"What is it, Private?" Skipper asked, slightly worried.

"We want to show you something, come! Quick!" Private said again, and disappeared back to the HQ. Skipper and Kowalski looked at each other, and followed Private.

"Alright," the youngling said. "Me and Rico have prepared something for you. Rico?"

Rico grinned, looked at Private and cleared his throat. "_Fish, feesh, feeesh_!" he sang.

"_Fi-fi-fish_!" Private continued the melody.

Skipper and Kowalski shared a confused look as the other two continued singing, and eventually they all ended up laughing to the silly song.

_~.~.~.~.~.-Mo. 19.11.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**96. NEW DRILL**

"I have noticed there's something we need to work on," Skipper announced.

"Which is..?" Kowalski signaled the leader to go on.

"Target practice," Skipper said. "Oh yes, one can never have an aim good enough," he continued while pacing around in front of the others.

"We spend a lot of time practicing our physical skills, and what to do in a hand-to-hand combat. But in this modern world we mustn't forget that more and more often we have to use firearms. And that's where…"

"Umh, Skipper?" Kowalski interrupted.

"Yes, Kowalski?" Skipper replied.

"I'd hate to interrupt your monologue, but could we just get to the point?"

_~.~.~.~.~.-Tu. 20.11.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**97. I'M DREAMING… **[23]

_Private looked through the periscope at the falling snow; how gently the tiny snowflakes fell to the ground. Eventually everything would be covered in a pure white layer of soft coldness, glistening under the stars.  
And then it would all be gone by morning, only small puddles left to show that it had ever existed._

_Yes, the first snow was always so beautiful. And it made Private think about Christmas. The youngling loved that holiday; it was filled with being together with family, peace on earth and joy to all living things. Season of giving. And the wait for Santa. And with Santa, there'd be Cupid…_

"Alright boys, lights out!"

_~.~.~.~.~.-We. 21.11.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**98. PREPARING FOR THE WORST **[24]

"We are doing _what?_!" Kowalski asked.

"Isn't that... _rather silly_?" Private questioned.

Rico just stared at Skipper with his head tilted.

"Well, do _any_ of you know how to defend yourself from it?" Skipper asked with his flippers crossed on his chest.

"Why would we even need to?" Kowalski replied.

"Think about Manfredi and Johnson, Kowalski!" the leader said.

"..But that never even happened to Manfredi and Johnson!" the scientist argued.

"Well true... But it could have happened to them like it happened to me," Skipper said.  
"So, men, we _are_ having those peakaboo defense drills!"

_~.~.~.~.~.-Th. 22.11.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**99. THANKSGIVING**

"So, Skipper…" Private began hesitantly.

"Yes?" the leader asked.

"I was just wondering… I mean, today is a day off, right?" the youngling continued.

Skipper looked at Private for a long time.

"What do you think?" he said. "Of course not!"

"But…. it's thanksgiving, sir," Private replied quietly.

"So? Do you think we have time for stupid holidays?"

Private dared not to say a word, but just glanced at Skipper with saddened eyes.  
And suddenly, a smile rose to the leader's face.

"Of course we are celebrating thanksgiving, Private. I was just messing with your head," Skipper chuckled.

Private smiled, relieved. "_I should've known that_".

_~.~.~.~.~.-Fr. 22.11.2012-~.~.~.~.~._

**100. END OR BEGINNING? **[25]

"Private, what's with the sadness?" Skipper asked from the depressed-looking youngling.

"I... I have this feeling that it's ending," Private replied sadly.

"What is?" Skipper asked.

"That's it, Skipper," the young one said. "I don't know. 'It' could be anything. Like the end of the world!"

"Foolish young Private," Skipper laughed. "The world is just beginning!"

"Actually, Skipper..." Kowalski interrupted. "The sun in our solar system is actually already in its mid-life," he explained. "And has only about 5 billion years to live anymore".

Skipper stared at him, and then turned to the young one.  
"So you see, Private, there's nothing to worry about," the leader said.

"Whatever it is, it's not ending; only just beginning".

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

[21] Happens after the episode "Friend-in-a-box"

[22] Happens after "Invention Intervention"

[23] If you don't know who Cupid is, check out "Merry Madagascar"

[24] Check out the episode "Rock-a-bye birdie"

[25] fourth wall and so on... ;)

* * *

-Nicki, over and out.


End file.
